


Beach Day

by Cade Welentine (cadewelentine)



Series: The MA College AU that Nobody Asked For [7]
Category: Falsettos - Lapine/Finn
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Day At The Beach, F/F, F/M, Fights, M/M, Mutual Pining, Secret Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-29
Updated: 2017-07-29
Packaged: 2018-12-08 07:55:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,756
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11642232
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cadewelentine/pseuds/Cade%20Welentine
Summary: “Look who finally made it.” Charlotte says with a smirk as they roll up next to the blankets. She’s wearing a floppy sunhat and a magenta bikini, and she has a bottle of Coke in one hand; Marvin think she looks like she stepped out of a magazine ad.





	Beach Day

**Author's Note:**

> Couple of quick pre-read notes:  
> -It's Spring Break  
> -The whole group is spending it in Provincetown, where Cordelia's got family and a summer home  
> -Mendel's leg is still broken from Winter Break  
> I think that's everything that needs clearing up before you read. Enjoy!
> 
> (PS Credit for this idea goes to worrylesswritemore, who suggested beach day, and lesbian sand castle competition, and Marvin and Mendel admiring Whizzer and Trina in bathing suits)

**Marvin**

“He’s not gonna fit.” Whizzer huffs.

Marvin scoffs. “How would you know? You have a lot of experience with this sort of thing?”

“Obviously.”

“Ow!” Mendel cries as Marvin grabs his arm a little too hard. “Watch it--I’m fragile.”

“Sorry.” Marvin says, adjusting his position with a grunt.

“Wait!” Whizzer says. “Right there! That’s it!”

“Okay, yeah--” Mendel nods. “Just, y’know, do it slowly, I’ve never-- _shit!_ ” Whizzer and Marvin drop him into the wagon with a thud. His cast smacks against the red plastic with a hard _crack_ , and all three of them wince. A second later, Marvin picks up the handle of the wagon, and Whizzer leans over to hold the back side.

“I hope the girls picked somewhere close to sit.” Whizzer remarks as they set off out of the parking lot.

Marvin makes a noise of agreement. This is not what he had pictured when they had discussed Spring Break plans during their weekly Skype chats; hauling Mendel down to the shore in Cordelia’s little cousins’ Radio Flyer is not his idea of a good time.

“I hate this.” Mendel announces, fumbling with the trash bag tied around his leg. That had been Charlotte’s idea--to keep the sand out and the cast dry-- and it would have been great, if Mendel wasn’t such a fidgeter. Instead, it was just one more thing for Marvin to be annoyed about.

“Me too.” Whizzer and Marvin respond in unison. The three of them fall silent for a bit--save for the rustling of the bag, and the occasional grunt from Marvin or puff of breath from Whizzer.

Eventually, because the girls have picked a spot that may as well be on Mars, Marvin spots them, and relays the message to the other two. Whizzer nearly breaks down in tears at the sight of Trina waving them over to the little set up of blankets and beach umbrellas that has been created while they struggled with Mendel, and it may as well be the Land of Milk and Honey for how happy it makes Marvin.

“Look who finally made it.” Charlotte says with a smirk as they roll up next to the blankets. She’s wearing a floppy sunhat and a magenta bikini, and she has a bottle of Coke in one hand; Marvin think she looks like she stepped out of a magazine ad. Cordelia appears behind her, offering Whizzer and Marvin both sodas of their own; they accept them gladly, and flop down on the blanket.

“Um, guys?” Mendel starts meekly. “I don’t wanna be _that guy_ , but... I need you to help me out of this.”

Whizzer starts to cry then.

* * *

 

**Mendel**

Mendel isn’t sure how he got roped into judging the ladies’ sandcastle competition. _Actually_ , he’s exactly certain how he got roped into judging the ladies’ sandcastle competition: Trina asked him to do it, and, quite frankly, he’d shove a fork in his eye if she asked him to.

“Charlotte,” Cordelia whines, her shoulders slumping in irritation. “Stop hogging all the buckets. The rest of us need to use them too.” She reaches for a mid-size green pail, but Charlotte yanks it away.

“Shoulda thought of that before you decided to leave _yours_ at _home_.” She says with a mildly malicious smirk. It’s not malicious enough for Mendel to foul her for.

“I only did that because _you_ said you’d share with me.”

“That was before I knew we’d be competing.”

Cordelia lets out a little “Humph” in response, and Mendel focuses his attention from the lesbians to Trina, who has been quietly working away on her sandcastle for the better part of the past twenty minutes. It’s admittedly very simple--the archetypal sandcastle, if you will. It’s not nearly as fancy as Charlotte’s, which has turrets and carvings, and it’s more put together than Cordelia’s, which is still just a pile of wet sand; any other judge would put it in second, but for Mendel it’s a solid first--only because it’s Trina’s.

“Ten more minutes, ladies.” He says, trying to make it more dramatic and tense than it actually is. Cordelia lets out a high pitched squeal and frantically starts to mold her damp sand into some sort of shape.

“Men, you didn’t strike me as the Alton Brown type.” Whizzer remarks, putting his hands behind his head. He’s spent nearly the whole time sunbathing, because, as he put it, “just because I’m from the Northeast, doesn’t mean I have to look like a hot Boo Radley”. Trina had to explain the reference to Mendel, who then remarked that it wasn’t one of Whizzer’s finest.

“What?”

“You know, the host on Cutthroat Kitchen?”

“Cutthroat--what?”

“How do you not know what Cutthroat Kitchen is?”

Marvin looks up from his book. “Some of us have more important things to do than watch the Food Network on our laptops all day.”

“Wow, Marv, that’s really funny,” Whizzer deadpans, his nose wrinkling up. “I don’t remember talking to you at all, and yet, here you are, participating in my conversation.”

“Don’t be a bitch, Whizzer.” Marvin huffs, his eyes returning to the page. Mendel swears he sees Marvin glance at the crotch of Whizzer’s swim shorts, but it happens so fast he can’t be sure. Whizzer mutters something about Marvin knowing when Whizzer’s trying to be bitch; Mendel decides to tune out the rest of their bickering, because there is almost certainly more to come, and he doesn’t feel like dealing with it. He’s got a sandcastle competition to judge.

Mendel calls time with all the sympathy he can muster. Delia screams again, trying to keep her fragile sand ring from crumbling down. Charlotte leans back on her knees, looking very self-satisfied with her fancy castle. Trina’s somewhere between the two of them, not entirely confident in her modest sand structure, but not falling apart either.

Of course, Mendel chooses Trina’s as the winner. Charlotte and Cordelia call bullshit, and he’s sure that if his leg wasn’t already broken, it would be about to be.

* * *

 

**Marvin**

“I gotta take a leak.” Whizzer announces in the midst of the lesbians’ scolding, getting to his feet and stretching slightly. “I’ll be back.”

“We really didn’t need the specifics.” Charlotte says with a roll of her eyes. She’s right, of course, they didn’t need to know, but it’s distracted them from their annoyance with Mendel, so Marvin’s glad.

He’s also glad for the opportunity to look at Whizzer’s ass in his too-tight swim suit as he walks away. Whizzer glances back to see if Marvin’s watching, and Marvin thinks he sees him wink. He lifts his book up higher to hide his eyes and his flushing face.

He waits a bit, reads a few more pages, then folds over the corner of a page and sets his book down. He makes a show of stretching, for Trina’s benefit, he tells himself (although, she’s not even looking at him as he does it), then rises.

“I think I’m gonna go to the bathroom too.” He says. Mendel makes an odd face, but Marvin doesn’t read too much into that; Mendel’s always making odd faces.

* * *

 

**Mendel**

“I think I’m gonna try to swim.” Trina says, standing up and shedding her lacy white cover-up. She tosses it to the side, and it lands beside Mendel, who has to fight the urge to pick it up and smell it (he knows how _creepy_ that would be).

“Good luck.” Cordelia snorts, leaning back on her hands. “It’s barely April; the water’s going to be _freezing_.”

Trina shrugs. “How bad can it be?” Cordelia just laughs again, and Trina sets off toward the shore line. When she reaches the water’s edge, she turns around and waves at them.

“She’s gonna be in for a whole world of cold.” Delia says, clicking her tongue like she’s Trina’s mother. Mendel thinks it can’t possibly be as bad as she’s saying it is; it’s nearly eighty degrees today, the water must have warmed up somewhat. But then Trina steps in--or rather, runs in at full speed-- and lets out a scream so high pitched it could shatter glass. Before Mendel knows it, she’s running right toward them. There’s sand sticking to her wet shins, and Mendel can’t help but notice the way--well, for lack of better phrasing-- the way her chest bounces in her bikini top. He looks away as soon as it registers, but it’s too late. The damage is done. He takes her crumpled cover-up and tries to put it to good use.

“It’s like ice down there!” Trina cries, falling to her knees beside Charlotte, who hands her a towel. She immediately throws the towel over herself like a blanket.

“I told you.” Cordelia says. “Didn’t I tell you?”

“You told me.” Trina sighs. “Mendel, can you pass me my cover-up?”

“Um...” Mendel trails off, tightening his grip on it slightly. “No?”

“What?” Trina asks, turning to face him.

“I said...fo’...sho’?” Mendel guesses, trying to avoid suspicion as much as possible. He reluctantly hands her the piece of clothing, and she slips it on without any hint that she knows what’s really going on. Mendel tries not to think about how something that was so close to his crotch is now so close to Trina.

He tries, but he fails.

* * *

 

**Marvin**

Whizzer’s fiddling with his hair in the mirror of one of the little changing stalls; he’s carelessly left the curtain half open, giving himself no privacy and Marvin a great view. Silently, Marvin slips into the stall behind him, wrapping his arms around Whizzer’s waist and pulling him close. He nuzzles into the crook of Whizzer’s neck. In the mirror, Whizzer smiles.

“Are you stalking me?” He teases.

“Mm.” Marvin hums. “Maybe.” Whizzer laughs, throwing his head back on Marvin’s shoulder. Marvin holds him a little tighter, letting his fingers graze over Whizzer’s happy trail.

“We’re gonna have to get you a new swimsuit,” Marvin says, playfully hooking his thumb under Whizzer’s waistband. “I love the view in this one, but I’m not going to be able to control myself if you wear it all summer.” The change in Whizzer is instantaneous and palpable.

“Right.” Whizzer says, turning around in Marvin’s grasp. “But, I've been meaning to tell you, I’m not going home this summer.”

Marvin blinks. “I’m sorry, I think I just hallucinated. What did you say?”

“I’m not going home this summer.” Whizzer repeats, his voice wavering slightly. “There’s nothing there for me, you know that. I-I got an internship at the MFA, and Delia’s brother’s letting me stay in his apartment, ‘cause he’s going to France, and--” Marvin’s arms fall to his side.

“You’re staying in _Boston_?” He asks. “For the _whole summer_?”

“Yeah.” Whizzer nods and bites his lip. “I really love it there, and this MFA thing is a really good opportunity for me--the last kid who had it got a job there when he graduated--”

“You’re _staying_ in Boston?” Marvin asks again, because he just can’t believe this is happening. This is not at all what he expected.

“I don’t really get what’s so hard for you to understand.” Whizzer says, careful and measured. “I thought you’d be happy for me.” He looks so _hurt_ by Marvin’s lack of enthusiasm.

“No, I am,” Marvin says quickly, trying to undo whatever damage he’s caused. “It’s just--this isn’t a part of my _plan_.” It flies out of his mouth before he can stop it. Whizzer’s nose wrinkles in disgust.

“Your _what_?”

Marvin knows he can’t talk his way out of this one. He has to face it head on, so he does.

“My plan.” He says, hoping he sounds more confident than he feels.

Whizzer nods slowly and deliberately. “Right. Your ‘plan’. And what, pray tell, does this ‘plan’ entail?”

Marvin laughs nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. “Well, you know, having it all--having you and Trina and--” Marvin freezes mid sentence; _that_ is not what he wanted to say. In the span of less than a minute, he’s told Whizzer everything he never wanted him to know.

“I see.” Whizzer says, much calmer than Marvin expects him to. “You want me to have and Trina to hold. You want me to sit around and wait to be screwed, and Trina to sit around and wait to be romanced.” He gets a little more upset with each sentence.

“Whizzer--”

“News flash, Marvin, Trina’s not your little doll, and I’m not your fucking whore.” Whizzer turns on his heel, but Marvin can still see his face in the mirror; as angry as Whizzer sounds, he looks like a little kicked puppy.

“I didn’t--”

“In the future, try to remember that you make plans _with_ people, not _for_ them.”

“Whizz--”

  
“We’re done here.” Oddly enough, it’s _this_ that pisses Marvin off. The idea that Whizzer thinks he can just decide when they’re done, when their conversation is over, enrages him. The irony of that isn’t lost on Marvin either. There’s a split second where Marvin considers pushing Whizzer up against the mirror, teaching him some sort of lesson, but the thought is gone just as quickly as it comes-- he’s not that kind of guy. Instead, he storms out of the stall and marches back out to the beach.

* * *

 

**Mendel**

“Whizzer and Marvin have been gone for a while,” Charlotte remarks, pushing her sunglasses up the bridge of her nose. “Do you think we should check on them?”

“They’re big boys.” Cordelia replies. “I’m sure they can fend for themselves.” Mendel’s not so sure about that; he’s seen both of them fight, and neither is very good. But he has no real desire to bring either of them back in a hurry. Trina has moved to sit beside him on the blanket as the sun sets, and her hand is placed over his. It’s such a subtle, tender action that Mendel isn’t certain she knows it’s happening, but _he_ knows it’s happening, and his heart is hammering in his chest.

But then Marvin comes trudging across the sand to ruin everything. Like always.

“Welcome back.” Trina says with a smile as Marvin drops onto the blanket beside her.

“Where’s Whizzer?” Charlotte asks, obviously a little worried.

“Still up in the bathroom.” Marvin says. He seems upset about something, but no one will dare ask. Marvin loses his mind if you ask him about his emotions; it’s not healthy, if you ask Mendel, which nobody ever does.

Trina rests her head on Marvin’s shoulder. Mendel expects that she’ll pull her hand off of his, but she doesn’t. He smiles to himself, pleased with this turn of events.

“Whizzer!” Charlotte says, and all heads turn toward the direction she’s looking in. Whizzer’s somehow looking _more_ flawless than when he left.

“I told you he was fine.” Cordelia says, pressing a soft kiss to Charlotte’s lips.

“Hey.” Whizzer says. Mendel can’t help but notice he’s pointedly avoiding Marvin’s gaze. That makes him nervous; he doesn’t have a lot of friends--he can’t lose one just because he got into a fight with another one.

“Come, sit.” Cordelia says, patting the sand beside her for Whizzer to sit down. “We’re watching the sun set, and then we’re gonna go get dinner.”

“Yeah,” Mendel says, even though no one’s been talking to him. “Delia’s finally going to show us that place you two are always talking about--the one with the really good onion rings.” Whizzer gives a small smile and nod, but then Marvin makes a big show out of kissing Trina and he frowns again.

“Could you two stop being so _straight_? It’s making me sick.”

“Sorry!” Trina says with a giggle. They all know she’s not that sorry. She _loves_ Marvin.

But they all fall silent after that, staring straight out over the water. Mendel’s content in that moment. He’s content in the quiet. He’s content to have Trina’s hand over his. He’s content to just be surrounded by his friends, these people that he loves so much, and who he thinks love him.

“Beauty, beauty, beauty.” Whizzer whistles as the sun disappears beneath the horizon. He and the lesbians stand, gathering their things. Mendel makes a move to do the same, and then suddenly remembers his leg and pauses.

“Hey, guys?” He starts sheepishly. “I don’t want to ruin this great moment, but I need to be put back in the wagon.”

Whizzer drops everything that’s in his hands. “ _Shit_.”

**Author's Note:**

> Right, so I was feeling kind of insecure about this one. Idk why, it just doesn't feel as natural as the other ones. (Please tell me I'm wrong and stroke my ego)


End file.
